This invention relates to a method and apparatus for handling hides which have been removed from animals slaughtered in a slaughterhouse, and particularly to the structure and use of a pneumatic conveyor for handling of such hides.
In normal slaughterhouse operations, there is a station or a series of stations where hides are removed from the animals. The task of handling the removed hides has necessitated substantial manpower and/or conveyor systems. In some facilities, hides are stacked on pallets which are handled conventionally to transport the hides to a hide processing facility either adjacent to the slaughterhouse or at a remote location. In the facility where the present system is installed, hides were engaged on hooks on an endless cable conveyor which carried the hides to the roof of the building where they were fed into a flume for further transportation to a nearby hide processing building.
The present invention presents a new and substantial improvement to such hide conveying systems which reduces substantially the manpower requirements for hide handling and is uncomplicated, effective, fast, efficient and relatively inexpensive.